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Jonathan Toews admits Henrik Zetterberg got under his skin in the last encounter.

The Chicago Blackhawks captain was clearly frustrated with the extra attention paid to him in a loss to the Detroit Red Wings Saturday.

Heading into Game 3 of the NHL Western Conference semifinal against the Detroit Red Wings Monday at the Joe Louis Arena, Toews plans to do some agitating of his own.

“Obviously he’s doing a lot of little things to take myself and my linemates off our game,” said Toews following the morning skate. “I think he’s a smart player that way and maybe it’s time to return the favour a little bit.

“I was a little frustrated after the game the other night. Sometimes you try and draw penalties and things aren't being called. I guess that’s the nature of playoff hockey, sometimes they’re going to let things go a little more often, so it’s time to dish that back a little bit and just try to make things more difficult for guys like him and his linemates as well.”

Zetterberg got deep into Toews kitchen in Game 2 by adding an extra hook, hack or crosscheck during their one-on-one battles.

There was a particular shot in front of the net that upset Toews the most, who felt Zetterberg caught him a little high.

“That’s the one I argued the other night,” he said. “Sometimes the refs don’t see and sometimes they do and might think it’s not worth calling. But it is what it is, it’s over. Things like that can’t frustrate me, you have to work through that and push back once in a while.”

Having been soundly outplayed in Game 2, which evened the best-of-seven series 1-1, the Blackhawks know they have to raise their battle level Monday.

“You just have to go out there and play with energy every single shift, be as tough as you can to play against,” Toews said. “You keep working and you keep chipping away, something is going to happen for you someone is going to make a mistake on the other team, and you just hope for those breaks.

“You have to keep working and keep the puck as much as you can. The more you have it, the more opportunities you’re going to get to score and eventually something has got to go in.”

Heading in, history is on the Blackhawks’ side, traditionally responding well after losses and having 9-1-1 record in Detroit over the past 11 games. That includes a 7-1 thrashing of the Red Wings earlier this year.

“Regardless of the score in the last game, we weren’t good enough,” said Toews. “There’s not games where if we don’t play our best that we’re not going to find a way to win. We need to play our best every single night and that’s what it’s going to take against this team. We’re confident in each other we’re going to be able to play for each other and respond for the last game.”

The Blackhawks are expected to make a lineup change, inserting Viktor Stalberg, who was a healthy scratch in the first two games of the series. Daniel Carcillo will likely be the odd man out for the Blackhawks.

“I’m excited to get back in,” said Stalberg. “You always want to play, no question about it. It might make me a little hungrier, but I don’t think it should make too much of a difference, I want to keep playing the same way I have all year.”

The Red Wings, meanwhile, are expected to keep the same lineup, which had so much success in Chicago Saturday.

Benefiting from a couple of days rest, the Red Wings soundly out-played the Blackhawks in a 4-1 victory.

“This is an important game for us,” said Red Wings centre Pavel Datsyuk. “Like every team, every game in the playoffs is important for us. We shut them down in the last game, but they shut us down in the first game. So we’ll see what happens tonight.”

As Advertised in the Edmonton SUN

Jonathan Toews admits Henrik Zetterberg got to him

Jonathan Toews admits Henrik Zetterberg got under his skin in the last encounter.

The Chicago Blackhawks captain was clearly frustrated with the extra attention paid to him in a loss to the Detroit Red Wings Saturday.

Heading into Game 3 of the NHL Western Conference semifinal against the Detroit Red Wings Monday at the Joe Louis Arena, Toews plans to do some agitating of his own.

“Obviously he’s doing a lot of little things to take myself and my linemates off our game,” said Toews following the morning skate. “I think he’s a smart player that way and maybe it’s time to return the favour a little bit.